Because I Really Like It There

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about my books or writing in general. Since I am a published author, I guess I should probably talk about my books on occasion, right? Today is that day. I thought I’d share with you some of my ideas and how my creative process works when I’m writing.

As any writer knows, writing starts way before words get placed upon a computer screen. Writing starts with an idea that plants itself in your brain. Sometimes, if that idea doesn’t get watered (you forget about it), it withers and dies. But, sometimes, if it’s watered enough (if you can’t stop thinking about it), it takes root and from there your story develops.

Sometimes a situation is what starts the ball rolling, sometimes an interesting character is the catalyst. Sometimes even a line of dialogue can be the beginning of a beautiful book. For me, setting is one of the most important parts of my stories. So, no matter how the idea takes root, or from what source, I usually develop, pretty early on, where that story is going to be set.

I’ve often been asked why my first series of books was set in Arizona instead of California, where I lived when I originally drafted them. The short answer is: I really don’t know. There’s just something about Arizona that I love, something I’m drawn to, something that calls to me. Sometimes that’s all it takes to make a story or three happen. When I got the idea for my first book, I instinctively knew it had to be set on a cattle ranch in Northern Arizona.

I’ve visited Arizona several times, usually the central or southern part, but I’ve never really spent a whole bunch of time in Northern Arizona. However, I decided that my story needed to move to the northern part of the state for a variety of reasons, mostly because I wanted the setting to be a really large cattle ranch and thought the terrain would be better suited for that in the northern part of the state.

Now I’ve driven through Northern Arizona so I was pretty sure I could make the story work in my fictional world based on real world experiences. So, I set my story on a fictional cattle ranch near Flagstaff and off I went. Most of the setting stuff is made up from my imagination. But, some stuff is real.

I think it’s important for readers to have reference points when they’re engaged in a book so they can connect better to the story. That’s why I usually choose at least one real place and make the other stuff up. If you write about an actual place, you run into problems with getting all the details exactly right. If you simply use the real place as a reference point, you don’t have to get the rest of the stuff in your made-up world exactly right. Readers will have a general idea about where the book is set, especially if they’ve happened to have visited that real place in the past. The fictional setting they can use their own imagination for.

I guess I must be doing a pretty good job of it because here are what some folks have said in their reviews of my books:

“. . . There were more than a few moments that the scenery completely immersed me into the story and I had no problem imagining myself beneath the endless sky at sunset, listening to the Arizona desert.”

“. . . This new author does an amazing job of character development and scenery descriptions … I felt like I was there!”

So, that’s how it sort of works for me. How about you guys, is setting important when you write, or read? Do you like to “know” where you are when you’re reading? Does it help you feel grounded and better immersed in the story? Have you ever been to Arizona?

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Word of the Day: Xenial

Fun fact about me: For me, researching a setting for a new book is always one of the most interesting parts of writing.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, February 2022. Images by Google an Pexels.